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THE 




IMPENDING CRISIS: 



OR, 



OUR PRESENT POSITION AND 



PROSPECTS AS A NATION CONSIDERED. i@ 



s 



BY C. H. AUSTIN. 



*' I delivered the poor that cried, and him that had none to help 

him. And I break the jaivs of the wicked, and phicked 

the spoiler of his teeth.''' — Bible. 



UTICA, N. Y. 

CURTISS & WHITE, PRINTERS, 171 GENESEE STREET. 
1865. 




^3 



3 



^^^ 



THE 



IMPENDING CRISIS: 



OR, 



OUR PRESENT POSITION AND PROSPECTS 



AS A NATION CONSIDERED. 



BYC. H. AUSTIN. 



" / delivered the i^oor that cried, and him that had none to help him. 

And I break the jaws of the wicked, and jylucked 

the spoiler of his teeth.'''' — Bible. 



UTICA, N. Y, 

CURTISS & WHITE, PRINTERS, 171 GENESEE STREET, UTICA. 

1865. 



■5' 



THE IMPENDING CRISIS. 



Among the many nations which people the globe, none 
are at the present time exciting that world-wide interest 
as our own. All eyes are turned toward the American 
Republic, and the pending struggle of these United States 
for the supremacy of the government over treason and 
wrong. Our position is one of unparalled interest to the 
whole race. If the principles at issue on the part of the 
North, go down in the contest, the hopes of unnumbered 
millions go down with them. If they triumph, as we 
hope and believe they will, our long cherished Union will 
occupy a more elevated plane, as it regards both national 
prestige and universal freedom. 

Oar position as a nation, is a term which involves both 
our own past history, considered in itself, or in contrast 
with the history and condition of other nations. In the 
former sense, let us for the present contemplate the 
subject. 

What is our status as a nation, examined with our 
eyes fixed upon our past history ? 

It is one of unexampled developement of resources 
for national defense. This is not only true in reference 
to finances for supporting between five hundred thousand 
and a million of men bearing arms — -feeding, clothing, 
and equiping them for nearly four years, but also in sur- 
rounding the entire rebel States, with their thousands of 
miles of sea coast, with a blockading squadron of armed 



vessels and ironclad steamers, which for size and formid- 
ableness bid defiance to every man-of-war flouting on the 
whole briny deep. Add to this the tens of thousands of 
horses for cavalry, unnumbered teams, army wagons, 
ambulances and implements for constructing fortifications, 
miles of pontoon bridges, caissons and canon, and tents 
almost without num})er, together with numerous well fur- 
nished hospitals, and buildings for thousands of prisoners 
of war, and we come to an aggregate of expense which 
only an American people could meet, and uncomplainingly 
endure. In the midst of this vast expenditure of men 
and means, hardly any internal interest or enterprize has 
essentially suffered ! This vast outlay for the contest 
has, for the most part, been met by government bonds, 
taken by the friends of Liberty, toiling manfully in the 
shops, stores, factories and on the farm, enjoying not only 
the comforts of life, but in most cases, its luxuries ! Let 
us be more particular in one instance only. In our naval 
resources the Secretary of War informs us of the follow- 
ing astonishing developement : 

" The report of the Navy presents a comprehensive 
and satisfactory exhibit of the affairs of that Department 
and of the naval service, w^hich is a subject of congratu- 
lation and laudable pride to our countrymen, that a navy 
of such vast proportions has been organized in so brief a 
period, and conducted with such efficiency and success. 

The general exhibit of the Navy, including vessels 
under construction, on December 1, 1864, shows a total 
of 671 vessels, carrying 4610 guns, and 510,396 tons, 
being an actual increase during the year, over and above 
all losses, by shipwreck or in battle, of 83 vessels, 167 
guns, 42,427 tons. The total number of men at this time 
in the Naval service, including officers, is 51,000. 



There have been captured by the Navy, during the 
year, 324 vessels ; and the whole number of naval cap-~ 
tures since hostilities commenced, is 1379, of which 267 
are steamers. 

The gross proceeds arising from the sale of condemned 
prize .property, thus far reported, amounts to $14,396,- 
250 51. A large amount of such proceeds is still under 
adjudication and yet to be reported. 

The total expenditures of the Navy department, inclu- 
ding the cost of the immense squadrons that have been 
called into existence since March 4, 1861, to Nov. 1, 1864, 
is $238,647,262 351." 

In the next place let us briefly glance at the great 
princijile of national justice. This is an essential element 
of that virtue which " exalteth a nation." We are reap- 
ing a bitter harvest from inhumanity and injustice, hith- 
erto practised upon an injured and defenceless race, by 
this whole nation, with but. few exceptions. The Qua- 
kers present one noble exception, worthy to be emblazoned 
in letters of gold on that historic page which is to pass 
down to coming ages. 

In this particular alone our glorious improvements are 
well purchased with aU the blood and treasure expended. 
Our venerable Chief Magistrate of the nation spoke 
unequivocally on this subject in his annual message to 
Congress. He says : 

" I repeat the declaration made a year ago that, ^vhile 
I remain in my present position, I shall not attempt to 
retract or modify the Emancipation Proclamation. Nor 
shall I return to slavery any person who is free by the 
terms of that Proclamation, or by any of the acts of Con- 
gress. If the people should, by whatever mode or means, 



make it an executive duty to reenslave such persons, 
another, and not I, must be their instrument to perform it." 

Of this noble declaration we might say in the language 
of an other : 

" This is eloquent majesty of speech ! This is heroic 
dignity of soul ! This is unblemished moral grandeur 
of position ! Such words have immortal life. They will 
go down as a heritage to future generations. great, 
struggling, conquering Nation ! The way to peace now 
opens ! The President of the United States stands 
pointing his finger to Liberty and Justice ! Never before 
seemed he so noble in our eyes ! God bless Abraii.\m 

Ll.N'COLN." 

If *• when the righteous bear rule the people rejoice" 
then this day with such a ruler who in a large measure 
is to shape the future destiny of 30 millions, we "thank 
God and take courage." We are far in the advance not 
only of former Presidents but of ourselves as a nation. 
Prejudices are fast giving way before the thunder-tread of 
war. Legislative enactments to uphold and perpetuate 
the most barbarous monstrosity that ever blackened the 
pages of history are falling like the leaves of autumn 
from the musty fohos filled with vestiges of national 
wrongs. The progress of events as indicated by an 
unknown pen are strikingly significant. 

" The first legislative word for liberty was spoken in 
the Senate by Mr. Trumbull, who, on the 20th of July, 
1861, as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, reported 
a bill to confiscate property used in the military service 
of the rebels. Mr. Fessenden wanted the biU postponed. 
Mr. Trumbull, on his own authority, oflered an amend- 
ment, confiscating slaves so used, and then, of his own 
motion, laid the bill over, evidently for a long period. 



God saw it, and the very next day sent upon us the 
judgment of Bull Run. On the third, the bill which had 
been put so carefully to sleep was snatched from its 
couch, and the great debates of the war began. They 
opened upon the amendment, and, significantly enough, 
Mr. Breckenridge fired the first gun against it, giving 
vent, in his remarks, to the following prophecy : 

" In my opinion," the amendment will be one of a series 
which will amount, before we have done with it (if, unhap- 
pily, we have no settlement or adjustment soon) to gen- 
eral confiscation of all property, and a loosing of all 
bonds!' Mr. Ten Eyck indulged in that then universal 
twaddle which has been burned out of our later speeches, 
about what " was to become of the poor wretches if they 
were discharged. God knows we do not want them in 
our section of the Union." The senator may think dif- 
ferently, now that he is unseated by a Democratic victory 
in New Jersey, which black citizens would have prevented. 
Pearce, of Maryland, proclaimed the sensitiveness of his 
constituents to any proposition involving " an act of eman- 
cipation, however limited or qualified." Little did he 
think that, within three years, his State, in convention 
assembled, would make a Constitution abolishing slavery 
which her people would ratify ! The bill was passed by 
thirty-three to six — the opposition, save one, being now 
avowed rebels. 

The next step was forbidding slaves to be returned by 
persons in the army. It took all winter to win this bat- 
tle. From December to March it raged. Mallory of 
Kentucky, declared it " involved the repeal of the Fugi- 
tive Slave Law ;" and so it did. Then followed the first 
act of abolitionism, independently of military questions 
and considerations — the extinction of slavery in the Dis- 



8 

trict of Columhia. Mr. Bayard declared " it would per- 
meate through the entire mass of the skveholdiug states, 
even if compelled as such to return to the Union." Mr. 
Vallandigham .said " there was no calculating where it 
would end." Still less did he calculate where he would 
end. That conflict lasted four months. Six weeks more 
secured the freedom of the territories. 

The other landmarks of legislative advance are the bill 
by which the army-lines were made identical with those 
of liberty ; the enlistment of colored soldiers, for which 
Mr. Wilson reported a bill on the 8th of July, 1862, and 
carried it in eight days, after a furious struggle ; the 
recognition of Hay ti ; the protection of colored persons 
in Washington ; and the repeal of the Fugitive Slave 
Law. In all these triumphs, gi'eat and small, Mr. Wil- 
son's part was important. We believe that to him belongs 
also the credit of suggesting the enrollment, under the 
draft, of the slaves of the Border States, which served 
a s a lever for the disruption of slavery in those localities, 
beginning with Maryland and ending with Kentucky. 
The grandest work yet remains — uncertain now upon 
which Congress the credit will I'all — that of pronouncing 
the unlawfulness of human bondage on any rood of Ameri_ 
can soil." 

The most worthy and marked tribute of respect paid 
to national equity, is the ajipointmeut of Salmon P. Chase 
to fill the vacancy made by the decease of Judge Taney, 
in the Supreme Court of the nation. In his Dred Scott 
decision Judge Taney afBrmed '' the colored man has no 
riyhts, the tvhitc man is bound to respect^ Mr. Chase has 
been a life long advocate for the impartial rights of man, 
and an unwavering friend of the oppressed. For such a 
statesman to be made Chief Justice in times when the 



great question of state reconstruction is of such vital 
importance to the justice, purity, and stability, of the 
Union, seems to be a special provision of Divine Provi- 
dence, for present exigences, as well as the redemption 
of the judicial ermine from the shame and obloquy which 
sullied its purity in years gone by. Clearly, the finger 
of destiny points to a glorious future. It is announced 
also, that Fremont is to be, if not already, appointed, 
Minister to France ; if so, the pioneers of moral senti- 
ment are securing a reward worthy of the advanced 
position they have taken before the nation. It may turn 
out, as in another case, recorded by the wise man, a cer- 
tain man '' by his wisdom deUvered the city ; yet no man 
remembered that same poor man." Eccl. 9. 15. 

The pioneers of truth are not always rewarded in this 
life. Of such as labor to be seen and honored of men, 
it stiU may be affirmed " verily they have their reward!' 
But the monarchs of progressive thought, like lofty moun- 
tain summits, stand unsheltered and alone, having for 
their solace the eternal sunlight of conscious rectitude, 
and the sustaming favor of the God of truth. All society 
is generally made up of three classes, viz — Pioneers of 
sentiment, Moderates, and Conservatives, or, expressed 
in other words : Agitators, Reflectors, and Opposers. 

This first class act from innate convictions of right 
alone ; the second, from popular impulses and opinions ; 
the third, from the fossilized principles and examples of 
the past. The first look not so much at the present posi- 
tion of society, or even the past, as to the teachings of 
Divine Revelation, and the " higher laiv' of right, writ- 
ten upon their moral being, by the pen of inspiration, 
and the finger of God. They take their lessons from 
the " tables of stone," and the " fleshly tables " of the 



10 

human heart. These two oracles are sufficient for them. 
Their watch-word rings out on the multitude l)elow study- 
infj expediency and compromise, and waiting for the con- 
servatives to get in motion. "' Speak to the people that 
they go forward," or " On to Richmond." Their's is a 
stormy patli. The moderates clamor and strive to pull 
them back. The conservatives fight, and, if possible, 
destroy their influence, if not their lives. The mode- 
rates reflect on the causes of such abuse and suftering, 
and move slowly onward toward their rightful and exalt- 
ed position. In time, the conservatives, ashamed of their 
rear position and opposition to the right, take ufi fhcir 
bed and walk ! These pioneers of sentiment carve a 
stairway of thought up the rocky heights of moral pro- 
gression, leaving traces of blood and tears to guide and 
stimulate coming pilgrims. The conservative is like the 
stagnant eddies along the stream of passing events ; the 
moderates, like the reeds or straws, borne onward by that 
current ; the pioneer of sentiment, hke that ever-active 
current, swollen by the showers of heaven, cutting out 
new and more direct and healtliful channels. Thus, truth 
is gaining ground ; and men of high moral principle, and 
far-seeing minds, are being promoted to places of trust and 
deserved honor. This progressive sentiment must still 
go on, and the men who have entered into the thickest 
of the fight, will be remembered, not only by a grateful 
people passing through the bloody strife, but by coming 
generations. It is not in the power of oblivious time to 
blot from the page of history which records this wicked 
rebellion and our coming trium})h over it, such names as 
William Lloyd Garrison, Owen Lovejoy, Charles Sum- 
ner, Horace Greeley, Wendell Phillips, Gerrit Smith and 
John C. Fremont. And first of all among the many 



11 

poets who have wielded their pens for freedom, will stand 
the name of that honest and truthful Quaker, John Gr. 
Whittier. 

Our position, religiously considered, is far in the ad- 
vance of our former position. The M. E. Church, which 
numbered a million members in this great republic, has 
forever erased all provisions for oppressors from its rules 
and formularies. Other branches of the Church of God 
are fast following her worthy example. The '" casting 
up a highway for the people, the lifting up a standard, 
the gathering out the stones," is rapidly going on. And 
the Christian Church is hopefully looking for her glorious 
Messiah to come suddenly to his temple, to fill the nation 
with his glory, and establish his kingdom upon a purer 
and firmer basis. 

Never did the world behold such extended and timely 
beneficence toward a noble army, as is being exhibited 
by the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, during this 
bloody conflict. Among the honored names connected 
with these humane and noble instrumentalities, will long 
live those of Miss Dix and George A. Stuart. 

Our prospects for ultimate success are gloriously 
brightening. Thomas has not only whipped the rebel 
Hood but pursues him with relentless purpose to annihi- 
late his entire army. Sherman has led his noble army 
through the heart of the rebellion, taken Savannah, 
captured a large number of prisoners, and taken as a 
war prize 33.000 bales of cotton, worth several millions 
of dollars, and is waiting to make other conquests, and 
finally unite with General Grant to give the finishing 
blow to the rebellion. 

Our position before the whole world is exerting an 



12 

influence on othr r nations, to be measured only by the 
duration of (^oming acos, and the millions of inhabitants 
that })eople the whole globe. 1 cannot better present 
our prospects and the magnitude of our conflict, than to 
present it in the language of another : 

" We are too much innovators t(» be popular in the 
Old AVorld. We are radically aggressive without intend- 
ing to be so. Our opinions, our institutions, our experi- 
ment, threaten the estabhshed order there. Therefore, 
the men who stand by that order, actuated by the motive 
of self-preservation, look at us as hostile to themselves. 
Personal hatred they have not but they fear the results 
of our trial, the tendencies of our new civilization. 
Since space has been so almost annihilated we have 
become as it were their neighbors. This increases the 
hostile feelings. When they see us in trouble and danger 
they have no sympathy for us. How can they watch 
with hope and sympathy the success of a government 
which is the antipodes of their own, when that success 
will modify or upset their own? They beheve, or many 
of them do, sincerely in their system. They disbelieve 
the soundness of ours. They will naturally w^elcome 
any evidence of the correctness of this opinion. They 
will readily accept it. We must not look for aid and 
comfort from them. A southern lord is a rebel. By 
force of the same influences that have made him a rebel 
and a traitor to the American Idea, the foreign aristo- 
crat sympathizes with this rebel. But where we find a 
real Democrat, in the North or in the South, he is stead- 
fast in his support of the American Doctrine. Where 
you find a real Democrat, or Liberal, in Europe, or 
elsewhere, you find a sympathizer with this American 
Democrat. This is all phiin. Our contest is the same 



13 

old one of '' Divine Rights" against Popular Rights. 
The party divisions were made long ago. In this special 
contest of ours one party the world over adheres to the 
American Popular Party. The other supports the Aris- 
tocratic and rebellious party. 

" Sometime ago we showed how the English people 
had naturally divided into two great parties in our war, 
obedient to the dictates of their sentiment, their hopes 
and their aspirations. The Aristocracy of birth, and of 
wealth too, took the side of the rebellion because it 
represented their interests. The Democracy groping, 
almost powerless, but aspiring and laboring and hopeful 
gave us their cordial sympathy. The champions of that 
Democracy, men of liberal opinions, and of intellectual 
ability and courage besides, were on our side — were our 
champions. It is so on the Continent as in England. 
The tongue of the Democratic or Liberal party in Europe 
speaks for us. We ought ever to be grateful for the ser- 
vices of Mill, Smith, Cairns, Hughes, Bright, Codden 
and others in England, and of Gasparin, Henri, Labou- 
laye and others in France. The great heart of this party 
beats with us. Where they can serve us they do so 
intrepidly, constantly and eflectively. So long as we 
are true to our idea we cannot win the sympathy of the 
lordly classes. We demean ourselves in attempting to 
do so. We ought not to think it strange that they 
oppose us. They obey the natural impulse to save them- 
selves. But we ought to be true friends of our friends 
in the Old World who look to us as having the power to 
save them from the assaults of lordly power that menaces 
them mth destruction. 

'' If any consideration will confirm our resolution not 
to cease in our conflict till we are assured of complete 



14 

victory, it is the appeal which the Democracy of the 
Old World niiike to save ourselves and them. If we 
fail it dooms them to hopeless subjection. If we succeed 
there will yet be a beacon to light their pathway, up 
which they will continue to struggle. Garabaldi, in 
referring to our conflict says : '' Not only do I hope from 
it the abolition of slavery but I consider the question to 
be one affecting all mankind, and woe to the world if the 
North does not come out victorious from the struggle." 
So they all think. The condition of the progressive party 
in Europe is a perilous one now, that demands all the 
encouragement and support which is possible to allbrd 
them. In the article of Professor Goldwin Smith pub- 
lished in the December number of the Atlantic Monthly 
he describes that condition. The wave of progressive 
opinion which for some time swept on impetuously, 
threatening to engulf the barriers that obstructed its 
movement, has spent its great force. There is a slack 
tide just now. In politics there is lassitude and some- 
what of despondency ; there is not the same eager hope 
and the same leaping of determination there was. In the 
religious sphere there is an analogous weariness and 
decay of hopes and cessation of efforts to rise above the 
effete creeds of the churches, and to get planted on a 
firmer and more durable faith. Parties arc not so 
aggressive as they were. The moral sentiment has relaxed 
its high tension. The extreme Liberal party in Eng- 
land is coalescing with the nearly extreme Conservative 
party. 

'' While this old cunllict wears this aspect in Kurope 
it is being fought with unexampled energy, determination 
and destructiveness on our soil. Its abatement in the 
Old World may in part be attributed to its intensity here. 



16 

By common consent they have laid aside their weapons 
to watch with intense interest the struggle here. To 
almost every man of them — nay to every man of them — 
its issue Avith us is of personal interest. It bodes him 
good or ill acccording to its decision for the government 
or the rebellion. It is not a wonder that the Aristocratic 
party throw their influence into the scale in^behalf of 
their friends and their champions. It is not a wonder 
that the Democratic party which is struggling against 
such odds and under such disadvantages, implore us to 
be true to the holy cause. What hope for them when 
we fail ? To what years of oppression, of insult and 
wrong wiU they be inevitably doomed by the destruction 
of this Republic — a result which will be accepted as the 
practical demonstration of the unsoundness of their 
theories of government. The secret instinct of both the 
Old World parties predicts the results of our contest. 
They cannot be mistaken. It is here that the long 
conflict which has extended through the civilized world 
is to be decisively concluded. It is not only for the 
Union, for thirty-six States and thirty millions of people 
that we are contending, but the great Democratic party 
— the party of the People — the world over, that we now 
combat. Wo be ours if we falter and fail. But more 
still, in the words of the Italian patriot and Democrat : 
" AVo to the world if the North does not come out 
victorious from this struggle." Philosophic historians 
have the belief that each great nation has specific 
functions to perform in the wise and benevolent economy 
of Divine Providence. The function of the American 
nation is clear. It is perhaps the grandest that any 
people ever had. If the nation fails, how far will the 



16 

failure curse ? If it succeeds, how great, how wide, how 
permanent the blessings of its success ?" 

Lastly. — The change of (he Con{<tituimu so as to pro- 
hibit forever slavery from the entire domain of the whole 
country, is one of the most hopeful omens of the crisis. 
The dawn of a brighter day gladdens the hearts of all 
who properly understand this contest. Kentucky is 
righting up her noble Ship of State, Maryland is free, 
and Missouri has triumphantly vindicated the principles 
of freedom, by inaugurating her emancipation Consti- 
tution, just in time to influence Congress on the coming 
vote on the amendment of the Constitution of the 
United States. 

What an auspicious moment! Many, whose true hearts 
have throbed with deepest interest during this painful 
struggle, are trustingly turning their eyes toward 
Heaven exclaiming, " Father, the Hour is Come." Now, 
when well-meaning, but mistaken men are hastening to 
Richmond on self-constituted peace missions ; now, while 
Congress has an ascendancy of Liberty men in point of 
numbers, who were elected by their constituents in view 
of such legislation ; now, while the Confederacy are 
discussing the expediency of arming the slaves ; now, 
while other powers are embroiled by our action in refer- 
ence to the St. Albans raiders, if we fail to speak in our 
Congressional halls for God and humanity, the great 
principles of freedom may be irrecoverable lost to 
Americans, and the glorious sun of our ])roudest hopes 
set to rise no more. Will the men of tlio tliirty-eighth 
Congress wantonly turn away from those imperishable 
honors, which Providence and posterity are awaiting to 
confer upon them, or will they leave these honors for 
othqr men ? Will they " loose the bonds of wickedness, 



17 

and undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go 
free ?" Can they rationally hope for anything honorable 
and abiding from peace envoys. The rebellion must be 
conquered. The leaders of it, and not the people subju- 
gated by their military despotism, control, to a great 
extent, the entire Confederacy. To treat with them 
would but invite further treason in the case of similar 
aspirants. It would be awarding honors to them instead 
of giving them that just retribution which their awful 
crimes demand. Let them lay down their arms and the 
war will cease. The blood of a million soldiers dyes in 
crimson their assumed robes of official standing. The 
laboring multitudes of every nation would execrate our 
folly, and the grinding monarchies of the entire earth 
would laugh and rejoice at the imbecility of our govern- 
ment. We are fighting for great principles as well as 
for an honorable peace. They commenced the war to 
overthrow those principles — we prosecute it not only to 
maintain the dignity and supremacy of the Grovernment, 
but to build more firmly those principles they seek to 
destroy. In the language of Hon. Wm. H. Seward, it is 
emphatically 

''THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT." 

What's earthly peace where justice dies, 

And principles decay ? 
Better for such they ne'er had been, 

Or perished in a day. • 
Christ came not to bring peace to wrong, 

His coming, who abides? 
For three 'gainst two, and two 'gainst three. 

E'en households he divides. 

"Wild thunder storms and piercing hail 
Lay waste the fruitful field, 
c 



18 

But purer air, aud blooming health, 

Such dread correctives yield. 
And thus the direful scourge of war, 

The nation's life shall save, 
"While uiauy a son and brother dear, 

Shall fill a soldier's grave. 

AVe must first break the fallow ground, 

Then broadcast truthful seeds, 
For he who sows among the thorns 

Shall harvest naught but weeds; 
Then drive the plough the nation through, 

Uptuni a richer soil, 
The wheat will flourish only where, 

The noxious weeds we spoil. 

Stern winter's cold, and searching frost, 

Shall aid the laborer's hand. 
And God's blest sunshine, and the rain 

With verdure clothe the land. 
All o'er the field in harvest whit«, 

The golden sheaves we'll bind, 
To feed the lowly, bless the poor. 

And raise the abject mind. 

We learn that even mingled quartz, 

Their treasures rich unfold. 
By passing through the crushing mill 

To separate the gold ; 
And sweetest flowers their odors give, 

WTien rudely they are bruised — 
Thus freedom's blessings flourish most. 

By sufferings ditfuscd. 

Expanding heat the steamer drives, 

To plough the briny main — 
And thus progressive truth shall move 

'Neath war's most fiery reign. 
Bold traitors scoff and lend their aid. 

The natiun to destroy — 
While loyal virtue toils in tears, 

And waits the coming joy. 



19 



Meanwhile, let good men raise their hearts, 

In hopeful, earnest prayer, 
To Him who holds the destinies 

Of freedom in his care ; 
When slavery dies the war shall end, 

The nation's turmoil cease, 
And on the dark and angry cloud, 

Appear the bow of peace. 

Then all the pioneers of truth, 

Shall hold theirjubilee — 
Lay by their arms, and start the plow, 

The nation ever free. 
And such as measured swords with wrong, 

In God's great might alone. 
In heaven at last, shall share a crown, 

And honors near the throne. 



IRONICAL ODE. 



Composed for the occasion of laying the corner stone of the Slave- 
holders Confederacy — " The corner stone of the Confederacy is SlaveryJ* 
— A. H. Stephens. 



We lay beneath this corner stone. 

Enshrined in zinc and mortar, 
The names of Davis, Floyd and Toombs, 

And Quantrell of Lawrence slaughter ; 
We'll show the world that slaves were made 

To increase our pride and treasure — 
Let " mudsills" toil to earn their bread — 

The great should live in pleasure. 

Some say what's built, on human wrong, 

Can't stand the wear of years, 
That's but the saying of an ancient Book, 

Full of horrid woes and fears ; 



20 

It says " as we to others give, 

In turn to us is meted" — 
We'll show the world that is not so, 

When the North is well defeated. 

The " perilous times" so long foretold, 

May come with sad dejection — 
To purpose vile we'll sell our kin, 

And ruin all affection ; 
No tender ties shall contravene, 

The F. F. V's promotion — 
We claim dominion o'er the land. 

And prowess on the ocean. 

No crowns are won in quiet times. 

No thrones are built by reason — 
The royal robes of Knightly Lords 

Are often made by treason ; 
Let titled monarchs through the earth. 

Learn by our future sequel, 
Our fathers falsely taught of yore, 

" All men are free and equal." 

What, though a million soldiers fall, 

In bloody scenes of battles. 
The abolition North shall yield, 

Our right to human chatties ; 
We'll drape the land in weeds of woe, 

Fill Northern homes with anguish — 
And cause their creed of " higher law," 

Through coming years to languish ! 

For us our sympathizers, North, 

Will fan the rebel fire — 
And this we know, as time must show, 

AVill raise our fabric higher ; 
Hoist the new flag — the stars and bars 

Shall float in royal favor, 
The poor may grind, the rich shall rise, 

And tyrants rule forever. 



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